Metallurgical process and apparatus



METALLURGICAL PROCESS AND APPARATUS Original Filed March 16, 1927- JPE Patentedsept. 1993i units s'r'rs retar reins nnenz nnwnczncreor; GERMANY, nssrcuos no 12mm nnwnczncn GESELL- 8013mm new BESCEMNKTEB mrrme, or nnnnm, GERMANY nrnrslnuncrcnn rnoonss mm .errnm'rus Original application me new is, 192?, Serial 1%. mm, and in Germany December 17, 1925. Divided and this application filed December 22, 1827. Serial No. 241,849.

My invention refers to metallurgical procgases over long distances in narrow and thereesses and apparatus, and more especially to fore inexpensive pipes, which at the same time means whereby such processes and apparatus form an accumulator which allows adaptin can be operated in a more economical way, the intermittent production of the gases to th: making use, orcheap jo msnienerg y spch31s constant operation of metallurgical furnaces. are availablein poweipp lppjgsserv ng in the Therefore wparate accumulators or storers' first line for the production of elc dti ic 'iicrgy maybe dispensed with. altogether, if the gases for illilfiiii'atidri and other pui-pos'esrw arc produced and supplied through pipe lines Hitherto the suggestion of feeding mctalunder very high pressure. At the same time i5; lur ical furnaces with oxygen and hydrogen or with air enriched with oxygencould not lire-carried into practice in View of the impossibility of producing hydrogen and more especially oxygen in a suihciently economical manner. Moreover-the mode of production of these gases could not be adapted to the particular conditions of operation prevailing in the high pressure offers an inexpensive means for conducting the gases over long distances in case that the place where the electrolytical process is carried through should not be situated in the vicinity of the furances. Preferably the moisture which may be present in the gases produced by electrolysis should be removed before the gas enters the long dismetallurgical furnaces. If oxygen and hy* tance pipe. This removal of moisture is prei drogen are produced electrolytically the elecerably effected by a well known freezing-out 0 tric current required for this purpose Ina he operation.

produced with the aid of that part of the uel, which is saved in the furnace itself, if the air of combustion is replaced by oxygen and hydrogen. This economy would be attained if the excess current and more especially the go manent night current produced in power stationscwere applied to the clectrolytical decomposition of water. However, metallurgical furnaces such as blast furnaces are known to require peroperation. In contradistinction thereto the excess current produced in power plants is only-avail therercifieignlrestce o'fthe intermittently produced gases for subsequent utili- Zation.

Hitherto however it has proved impossibleto store such quantities of hydrogen and oxygen as would suihoe to fill up the intervals between the periods of direct gasproduction in the power plant.

This diificulty can be overcome if oxygen and hydrogen are developed by electrolysis under pressure and are conveyed directly to the place of consumption through a pipe line, thus dispensing with storage. If water is decomposed electrolyticall y in pressure resistive cells, the gases are recovered under very high pressures, up to 1000 atms. and above, without requiring any surplus of energy. it is now possible to transport great quantities of these I V i k lustrated' diagrammatically, it being understood that the plant shown is only an exam pie for the many possibihties of reducing my inyention to practice.

Referring now to engme of any suitable type, for instance a hydraulic or steam turbine which operates a direct-current generator 2. 3, 3 are thetermittcartlyendmminals or bus of the generator to which the direct-current system 4 is connected. The current not required in thesystem is conducted to an electrolytic high pressure battery 6 by means of wires 5 connected in pan' Gil the drawings, 1 is an allel to the system a. The electrodes of the several electrolyzer units may be connected inseries for facilitating their connection to .99 means described in my U. S. Patent-hi0.-

normal system voltage, for instance by the 1,600,478, and the several units 6 may also. be connected in series. 7 and 8 are headers connected to the headers for oxygcnandl ydrogen', respectively. 7 p

The excess pressure obtained without appreciable added cost is utilized in a particularly convenient and simple manner where only a small final pressure is required. For

ducing valve 27 and from'this tank the oxygen flows to the injector or injectors 29 at reduced pressure, drawing in large quantities of atmospheric air through-a nozzle 30 and ejecting the mixture of air and oxygen under a suitable final pressure into the tuyeres 3 1 of the blast furnace. In this manner the energy stored in the small quantity of oxygen supplied to the injector or injectors 29 under its comparatively high ressure is supplied to a. comparatively arge quantity 0 gas, in the present instance air, of lower pressure in a simple manner and by apparatus comprising 110 movable parts. Consequently it is possible with a very small quantity of oxygen under high pressure to exert a low final pressure, as required for a blast furnace, on a large quantity of air, whereby the entire blower system at present required is eliminated.

Another important fact in the operation of a blast furnace is that themixture supplied to its tuyeres is richer in oxygen than atmospheric air and consequently will burn at a higher temperature and efiect a corresponding saving in the amount of coke required. Another fact which also makes for economy is that the perceutage'of nitrogen in the mixture is reduced in proportion and these facts also lead tofa reduction of the time required for a charge to flow through the furnace. v

In blast furnaces and other metallurgical plants the oxygen from the excess energy -1na also be used in pure condition, that is,

wit out mixin it with air. If this is'done, the nitrogen of the air which must be heated up, but oes not perform any useful function, is eliminated altogether and therefore the saving of coke in the blast furnace is so.

high that the electrical energy required for generat ng the oxygen might be roduc'ed with this coke and therefore the a vantages obtained by the use of oxygen are obtained free of cost. By way of example I have illustrated at 32 a Siemens-Martin furnace to which oxygen under pressure is supplied by one of the pipe lines 23;

Obviously in any dplant not only the temperature is increase due to' the elimination of the inert nitrogen, but the efficiency of the plant is increased also, and for a given output the plant will therefore be smaller and its initml cost and interests will be reduced per unit of weight of materials treated in the plant...

The hydrogen may also be used for many purposes, and particularly in metallurgical processes, if water power, but no coal is avafle temperature in an oxy-hydrogen flame, the

hydrogen combines with the oxygen ofthe ore,' f0rmingstea.m and reducin the ore. The hydrogen reductiondnvolves t 1e further advantage that the iron can berefined to any desired kind of steel in. the same reducing furnace, as the blast furnace is, so to speak, replaced by the Bessemer converter. As shown at 35, the ore in the converter is melted together with the additions by means of an oxy-hydrogen flame which is supplied from the pipes 36 and 37, and the slag is removed and thereafter hydrogen 1I1 excess blgwn nanfam d other substances, are contained. in the melt, oxygen is blown into it, and finally silicon, carbon-containing substances and other ad mixtures are added as required for obtaining. any desiredsteel alloy.

g I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described for obvious modifications will occur to aperson skilled mpleted. f'I'lHiiyim-puritice,"such -asphosplioiiisfsiilphur, carbon and in the art. r m

I claim I 1. The method of operating electric power plants comprising utilizing the excess energy resulting in said plant for, the electrolytic generation of hydrogen and oxygen under pressure, and causing said oxygen to draw from the atmosphere the air required for operating a blast furnace, at the same time imparting to it the pressure required for operating said furnace.

2. The method of 0 rating electric power plants comprising uti izin the excess energy resulting in said plant for the electrolytic gen eration of hydrogen and oxygen under ressure, and causing said oxygen to draw rom the atmosphere the air required for operating a forced draught furnace, at the same time imparting to it the pressure required for operating said furnace.

3. An electric power plant comprising an {no electrolyzer for the electrolytic generation of hydrogen and oxygen from the excess energy resulting in said lant, a narrow high-pres- .sure pipe line in w ich the oxygen is shipped,

last furnace comprising an in ector 3 and a supplied with oxygen from said pipe line and adapted to eject a mixture of air and oxygen from the tuyeres of said blast furnace. In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FRANZ LAWACZECK. '1 

